Texas Asian American Candidates Fall Short in Congressional Contests. Maybe

The two Asian American candidates, Gina Ortiz Jones and Sri Preston Kulkarni, failed in their bids to represent their Texas districts in Congress.

In District 23, the outcome is still not clear. Ortiz jones came agonizingly close to becoming the first Filipina American in Congress but lost by about 700 votes. The vote is close enough to warrant a recount but Ortiz Jones hasn’t made an announcement whether or not to request a recount.

By 3 a.m. in Texas, Jones’ final talley was 102,214. She was beaten by incumbent Republican Will Hurd’s 102,903.

For a moment before 3 a.m., with a reported 100% of the vote in, it appeared that Ortiz Jones had eked out a victory over Hurd by about 300 votes. Five minutes later, the final talley was revealed showing Hurd retaining his seat representing the 23rd District, a sprawling district that includes 820 miles of the Mexican-Texas border.